This prompt was taken from https://killzoneblog.com/2014/06/the-three-elements-writing-exercise-html. I accessed the site today, 9/11/17. "Write a story that contains all three of these elements: A funeral, a missing cat, and a promise."
It was coupled with the www.merriamwebster.com word of the day: bibelot (BEE-buh-loh), meaning 'decorative ornament' or 'trinket.' I challenged my students to use "bibelot" in the writing sample.
It was over. Mom and Dad had decided to hold a backyard funeral for our missing cat, Sparkles. We'd spent two months searching for her, and the last we'd heard, she was seen running down the road with her favorite bibelot in her mouth, past the farm with all the stray dogs. I wondered if they'd eaten her, though they didn't seem the killer type.
Mom had promised we would search until we found Sparkles or her bibelot. Sparkles was nowhere to be found, but the trinket had turned up two days ago. Dad said we would bury the toy in a shoebox, and we could say a few words in memory of Sparkles. I wasn't ready to forget Sparkles yet, but I understood that we couldn't wait for her forever.
I loved my cat. She'd been with us for six years. She wasn't super-cuddly, but she'd let me pet and hold her when I was sad or crying. She was also playful and independent, so it wasn't too surprising that she ran off sometimes. It was just heartbreaking for me when she didn't return this time. Mom and Dad explained that cats don't like to die around their owners, and that maybe she knew her time was coming, so she ran away. At least we had her bibelot to bury; it provided me a little closure.
As we tossed dirt on the shoebox, a few tears slipped down my cheeks. "Good-bye, Sparkles," I whispered.
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